Saturday, September 27, 2003

Memorex Mini-CD MP3 Player

So... I finally broke down and bought a new CD/MP3 player. Nothing really wrong with the old one (Rio Volt PSX100 except for the size (regular portable CD players are a bit bulky), so I've been looking for either a flash card MP3 player or a mini-CD player. (Mini-CDs are 8cm across and hold 185-210Mb instead of the 650-700Mb of regular CDs.) Finally, I saw the Memorex MPD8081 for $50 at Amazon which is way cheaper/easier then any flash-based player solution would be.

The reviews for it seem to be more good then bad (unlike previous mini-CD MP3 players like the TEAC). Size is around 4"x4"x1.2" which makes it a little thick, but still smaller then my old RioVolt (which is 5.5" wide). Small enough to fit in a coat pocket, and the mini-CDs are easier to tote around then their bulkier cousins.

I also found that with the full-size CDs holding 8-10 hours of music, that it's difficult to put enough of the same genre/energy/style onto a CD (unless you're talking 2 hour dance tracks). This isn't a big deal in the car where I can easily glance over and hit the "next track" button. But when you're riding down the trail, it's much more difficult. Plus, usually after an hour or so, I'm ready to switch discs anyway so media that holds 2-3 hours is about the right size.

The fact that I have a stack of 50 mini CD-Rs sitting on the shelf helped influence the decision a bit too. (grin)

posted by Wuphon's at 9:01 PM